26 MACWORLD DECEMBER 2019
MACUSER 7 NEW CATALINA FEATURESthe ecosystem in good standing, and
Catalina continues to adapt to this new
reality. Instead of being dependent on the
Mac to survive, those other devices have
grown up and are now ready to bring their
own particular skills to bear on supporting
their predecessor.
DRAWING ROOM
The inherent touch interface of iOS
devices has always provided a way to
interact with content not available by
default on the Mac—one that’s particularly
useful when it comes to drawing,
sketching, and annotating. Yes, the Mac’s
trackpad gives some meager ability to do
the same, but the ergonomics of it have
never worked quite as well—it’s simply not
built for those tasks. External tablets, such
as those from Wacom, can provide similar
features, but it’s an expensive and not very
portable solution. And with the addition of
the Apple Pencil, the iPad has taken those
abilities to the next level.
With Catalina, Apple has leveraged this
advantage of iOS and integrated it more
seamlessly into the Mac. Yes, you can
markup a PDF directly on your Mac, but
why not use the device with the giant
touchscreen and stylus that you may
already have? (You can use the iPhone as
well, but obviously, the lack of Pencil
support and smaller screen present
limitations.) And, just as you were
previously able to take advantage of the
camera on your iPhone or iPad and insert
that picture directly into Notes—rather than
struggle with using the fixed camera on
your Mac—Catalina lets you use the iPad
to insert a sketch or markup a PDF.
Apple has been clear that it doesn’t
intend to simply merge all of its devices,
arguing instead that each has different
strengths. By tying those devices more
closely together, it offers an opportunity for
each device’s strength to complement each
other. Or, in other words, let your toaster be
your toaster and your fridge be your fridge.AUTHENTICALLY AUTHENTIC
Apple dipped its toes into the idea of a
“web of authentication” when it added the
ability to unlock your Mac with your Apple
Watch, but Catalina takes that to the next
logical step by allowing you to
authenticate via the Watch whenever
macOS prompts you for your administrator
password. (The Security & Privacy
preference pane suggests that you’ll be
able to use it to unlock apps as well,
though it’s unclear if that feature will be
available to third-party developers.)
This, too, is an example of Apple
leveraging the specific capabilities of its
other devices. The Apple Watch is
uniquely suited as a multi-factor
authentication device, since access to it is
protected by PIN or by authentication with